Thursday, December 11, 2014

Elizabeth Bishop was known to work on a poem for years until
it reached her high standard of completion, before she would allow it to be
published. Once a poem was published, she tended to leave it alone. The large
body of unfinished and unpublished poems left when she died attests to many
things (not enough time, for example – the big issue for most of us these
days), including the rigours of composition, her (to adapt one of her phrases)
“Efforts of Perfection.” As perfect as the craft of Bishop’s poems tend to be,
often what Bishop wrote about were imperfect things – she understood the
foibles of humanity, the flaws in our intentions, and just the downright
messiness of life: all that “untidy activity.”

As a freelance editor, I have high standards for the
technicalities of text; but I also know how difficult it is to proofread
manuscript text – and especially one’s own text. Often, you can’t see the
forest for the trees. As hard as I tried to proofread Lifting Yesterday, I have heard from my most careful reader that
some typos exist in Chapter 1 (and I am sure elsewhere). I am not surprised. I
am a little embarrassed. But there you have it – imperfection. If the errors
run to only typos, I will be happy. I have tried to minimize factual errors,
but likely there are some of those, too (unintentional – if I am not sure, I do
try to say I am not sure). Interpretation is another highly subjective matter.
We all are entitled to our opinions. I hope it is clear that what I have done
in Lifting Yesterday (right or wrong
as it may be) has been done respectfully.

I thank my forbearing readers as they navigate through this
text and come across what I hope is only the occasional typo. I like to think
of these infelicities as the Navajo flaws (the tiny imperfections deliberately
woven into the beautiful blankets, because nothing in life is absolutely
perfect).

"All the untidy activity continues, / awful but cheerful."

Arthur Bulmer's service station (first a "Red Indian," later a "Texaco") under construction in Great Village, circa 1920s.

P.S. I wrote about Elizabeth
Bishop and imperfection some years ago, an essay entitled: “‘The Price of Fame’:
Elizabeth Bishop seen through which lens?” which was requested by someone but,
in the end, the piece did not serve the purpose. It has remained in a virtual
drawer ever since. If anyone is interested in reading this essay, just send me
an email and I’ll send it to you, gratis. If you are interested in Lifting Yesterday, read the terms of my
offer on that page of this blog. I would love to hear from you.

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John Barnstead

I retired in 2014 after forty years of teaching Russian language and literature. I'm a past president of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia.

Sandra Barry

I am a poet, independent scholar, freelance editor, and secretary of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia.

Suzie LeBlanc

I am a professional singer who recently has become a great admirer of Elizabeth Bishop's writing. I am also fond of walking and nature. I became involved with the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary because I wanted to have her poems set to music so that I could sing them.